Method of and apparatus for paper making



July 19, 1932. H. PARKER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PAPER MAKING Filed April 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet July 19, 1932. H PARKER 1 867,588

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PAPER MAKING Filed April 28, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 July 19, 1932. H PARKER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR. PAPER MAKING Filed April 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 y 1932- H. PARKER METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PAPER MAKING Filed April 28, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 19, 1932 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE HOWARD PARKER, 01! BERLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO BROWN COMPANY, OF

BERLIN,'NEW HAMPSHIRE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE. I

METHOD OF AND- APPARATUS FOR PAPER MAKING Application filed April 28, 1930. Serial No. 447,892.

3 This invention relates to improvements in paper making machinery of the type including a cylinder mold. An object of the invention is to promote even distribution of pulp on the mold and to provide means for controlling such distribution. Paper is cus- 'tomarily made by conducting an aqueous suspension of cellulose pulp to a finescreen through whioh. the aqueous vehicle flows, leaving the'fibers' deposited in a sheet or web on the surface of the screen; The first fibers deposited on the screen. quickly clog the meshes so that the rate of building up the thickness of the web falls off sharply and the later deposited fibers are more loosely held to the web by the water pressure behind them. Cellulosic fibers in a dilute suspension such as is customarily supplied to cylinder molds, tend to collect into soft clumps or, bunches. Unless suchclumps are broken up or their formation avoided immediately prior to the arrival of the pulp at the mold, the web is liable to-be uneven. In general, fiber clumps may be broken up by suflicient agitation of the suspension containing them, but excessive agitation in the immediate vicinity of the screen is liable to wash off theouter, more loosely held fibers of the web and thus to reduce the thickness as well as the uniformity of the web formed on the screen. It is an object of the present invention to promote a uniform distribution of the fibers in the suspension approaching the mold and to control the currents of suspension adjacent to the mold in such a manner as to cause a regulated web of substantially uniform thickness to be deposited on the mold.

Various other advantageous features of the invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from the disclosure of the invention in the description thereof which follows, and on the drawings, of which,-

Figure 1 is an end elevation of mechanism embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, the side of the vat being removed to show the inner partitions.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the vat, half of the view being broken away to show the interlor.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the cylinder mold and vat. I 1

Referring tothe drawings in detail, a cylinder mold for paper making is indicated at 10, this mold being supported by a shaft 11, journaled in .a pair of supports 12. A'pulp vat is mounted adjacent to the mold in such a' way as to present a pool ofstock to a portion of an upper quadrant only of the mold as is indicated in Fig. 2. The pulp vat may have a front wall'13 and end walls 14. A horizontal partition 15 and two upright parti-. ,v

tions 16 and 17 extend from end to end of the vat and divide'the vat into a lower compartment 20, an upper compartment 21 remote from the cylinder mold, an upper compartment 22 adjacent to the cvlinder mold, and a.

lower compartment 23. A slot 24 connects the compartments 20 and 21, this slot, as indicated in Fig. 4. extending substantially from one end of the vat to the-other. The sides of the slot may be oppositely beveled, the slot widening upwardlv so that stock flowing therethroughfrom the lower compartment into'theupper compartment passes by a pair of relatively sharp edges when entering the slot. In the lower portion of the partition 16 a series of sluiceways 25, arranged side by side. are provided, this series of sluiceways extending nearlv to the ends of the vat. Between each pair of sluicewavs is a transverse partition 26' which rises from the bottom of the compartments 21' and 22 and extends upwardly to a top edge 27 somewhat partitions in the compartment 22. At the bottom of the compartment 22 is an opening 31 through which dirt or foreign matter may settle into the compartment 23. Each of the slulceways 25 may be controlled'by a suitable gate 32, the gate being mounted in any suitable way as by a hinge 33. A rod 34 may be attached to the other end of the gate so as to regulate the amount of opening. To this end the upper end of the rod may be secured to a lever 35 rockably mounted on a shaft 36 1 for adjustment bya hand wheel 37. Thus by manipulation of the hand wheel 37 each gate 32 may be opened to any desired extent.

' Adjoining the ends of the pulp vat are a pair of exterior reservoirs 40 and 41. The walls of these reservoirs preferably rise to a height equal to that of the walls of the vat, except that a spillway may be provided as at 42 forthe reservoir 40 and at 43 for the reservoir 41, so that pulp stock therein may overflow into suitable discharge ducts 44 and 45 respectively. Extending through the lower compartment is a rotatable hollow cylinder 50. One end of this cylinder is jour- ;.naled in a circular opening in the wall which the cylinder within the compartment 20 is provided with a large number of relatively small perforations 53, which may ,be arranged in a number of helical series, as shown in Fig. 3, for the distribution of stock with maximum uniformity in the compartment 20. The sum of the areasof the perforations 53 is approximately equal to the cross-sectional area of the interior of the cylinder 50. In the end portion 51 of the cylinder a number of large openings 54 may be provided, the sum of the areas of these openings being at least as great as a cross-sectional area of the interior of the cylinder. Pulp may be supplied to one or the other of the reservoirs 40 and 41, as by a supply pipe 55. Pulp entering through the. pipe '55 into the reservoir 40 joints a body of pulp stock, the level of which is largely determined by the height of the spillways 42 and 43 and the partition 16, the height of these spillways being preferably a little above the top of the partition 16. This difference of level is sufiicient to cause a flow .of stock through the openings 54 into the hollow cylinder 50. A portion of the stock flows through this cylinder into the reservoir 41 and out over the spillway 43. Most of the stock entering the cylinder 50 flows out through the many openings 53 into the lower compartment 20. The cylinder is rotated so as to effect a thoroughly uniform distribution of the pulp through the compartment 20. Owing M to thesubstantially unobstructed communication between the reservoirs 40 and 41 through the cylinder 50, the stock passes through each of the openings 53 with a uniform distribution pressure from one end of r of separate chambers. The function'of the cylinder 50, together with the supplymeans for the cylinder, is to provide identically similar streams of stock for each of the several chambers of the upper compartment 21. Some of'the stock entering the compartment 21 flows therefrom into the compartment 22 over the upper edge of the partition 16. The stock thus entering the compartment 22 is deflected by the board 30 toward the exposed surface of the cylinder mold in its downward flow. By adjusting the gates 32 in an open position, some of the stock entering the several chambers of the compartment 21 may flow into corresponding chambers in the compartment 22 through the several sluiceways 25. As these sluiceways are near the bottom of these upper compartments, the current in the compartment 22 from the sluiceways is upward toward the exposed surface of the cylinder mold, so that thecurrent from above and the current from .below meet in a region adjacent to the cylinder mold and form there a region of comparative quiescence which is favorable for a uniform depositing of pulp on the mold. Since the partitions defining the several chambers in the compartment 22 extend to this region of quiescence, the current conditions in this region may be locally controlled from one end of the mold to the other by individual adjustment of the several gates 32. Thus the gates may be adjusted to ensure unity of thickness and quality of the sheet from edge to edge, or 'if a special type of sheet is desired for a particular purpose, the thickness of the sheet may be varied within limits so that the caliper changes as desired from 'one edge of the sheet to the other.

The characteristics of the web of pulp deposited on the cylinder mold may be further modified, if desired, by the provision of a waterproof adjustable apron 60 which, as

shown. may rest against the inner surface of vat. The lower end of the apron may be at.-

tached to a roll 61, conveniently mounted in the compartment 23 and adjustable to vary at will the position of the upper edge of the apron. By raising the upper. edgeof the apron a somewhat thinner sheet of pulp is obtained on the mold, since less surface is exposed to the pool of pulp in the vat.

A suitable basin 62 may be mounted beneath the cylinder mold to catch the white water, and also to catch wash water which may be projected against the surface of the mold, as by a spray pipe 64. f

The web formed on the mold may be picked up by a suitable felt 65, which, as shown, may engage the mold adjacent to its uppermost point and may continue in contact with the upper quadrant of the mold remote from the vat.

This felt may be guided into contact with a second felt 66 to which the pulpweb is transferred. In order to compact the newly formed web of pulp and squeeze some of the white water therefrom before it leaves the surface of the cylinder mold, a rubber covered roll 67 may be provided to press against the felt 65 shortly after its contact with the surface of the mold. A sluice 68 may be suitably mounted in a manner well known in the art to lead off to the ends of the mold excess water which is squeezed upwardly through the felt from the pulp web prior to entering the nip of the roll 67. A suitable doctor 69 may also be provided to remove excess sur face water on thefelt 65 as it leaves the mold 10.

The paper making unit hereinbefore described is suitable for use with other similar units in the making of laminated or multiply paper by combining together a number of thin webs deposited on a series of cylinder molds. Such a sheet may be carried by the felt 66. the sheet being built up by the progressive successive additional webs carried by the felts 65 and pressed together between the two felts as by a pair of rolls 70 and 71.

' I claim:

1. In the art of paper making. a method which comprises presenting a body of pulp stock to an upper quadrant only of a rotating cylinder mold, and maintaining in said body of stock a downward current and an upward current meeting to form a region of relative quiescence adjacent to the portion of the mold receiving the initial deposit of fibers thereon.

2. In the art of paper making. a method which comprises presenting a body of pulp stock to an upper quadrant only of a rotating cylinder mold, and maintaining in said body of stock a downward current and an upward current meeting to form a region of relative 3. Paper making machinery comprising a. pulp stock vat, adjoining compartments at the ends of said vat, a rotatable hollow roll extending from end to end of said vat and opening into said adjoining compartments, said roll having perforations distributed over its surface, means for supplying pulp to one of said compartments, and means for rotating said hollow roll.

4. Paper making machinery comprising a pulp stock vat having a partition forming upper and lower compartments and with a slot therethrough connecting said compart ments, auxiliary reservoirs adjoining said vat at the ends thereof, each of said auxiliary reservoirs having a spillway at the approxi mate level desired for the pool of stock in the vat, a rotatable hollow cylinder extending through said lower compartment from end to end and opening into both said auxiliary reservoirs, said cylinder having perforations distributed over its surface, and a supply ductfor stock communicating with one of said auxiliary reservoirs.

5. Paper-making machinery comprising a pulp stock vat, a pair of auxiliary reservoirs adjoining said vat, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted in said vat having a number of lateral perforations distributed over its surface, said cylinder having one unobstructed end opening into one of said reservoirs, the opposite end portion of said cylinder ex tending across the other reservoir and provided with lateral openings having atotal area as great as the cross sectional area of the interior of the cylinder, a shaft secured to said end portion of the cylinder, a spillway for each of said reservoirs at the approximate level desired for the stock in the vat, and a supply duct for stock leading into one of said reservoirs.

6. Paper-making machinery comprising a pulp stock vat, a pair of auxiliary reservoirs at the ends of said vat, a partition dividing the vat into upper and lower compartments, said partition having a slot therethrough extending between points adjacent to the ends of the vat, a hollow cylinder rotatably mounted in said lower compartment, said cylinder having a number of apertures therethrough distributed over its surface, the end portions of said cylinder opening into said signature.

HOWARD PARKER.

quiescence adjacent to the portion of the cyl- .Inder receivlngthe initial deposit of fibers thereon, and controlling the flov of one of said currents at a succession of points extending from one side of the stream to the other. 

